Rivals In Love
by Rin0rourke
Summary: After a surprise attack Inuyasha is left injured and vulnerable in the care of the last person he trusted. Slash, Rape, Death
1. Chapter 1

It was hot, almost unbearably so, which was strange for him. Usually he could tolerate even extreme temperatures, but this heat didn't come from the environment, no, it came from his burning anger. And his rage was far beyond any extreme temperature.

"Damn that Kagome." He cursed, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes at the moving water in front of him, as if it was to blame for his sudden foul mood. As if it had somehow swayed Kagome to act as she did.

He was sitting, well lounging really, by a small creek not far from where he had left the others. The cool water sparkled as it swirled around the smooth gray stones dodging past obstacles it couldn't just plow through. He sat, watching the swirls of water rush by. He couldn't believe her. Wasn't it his right, his fucking obligation, to fight for his own dignity? No, she had to command him, make him behave and obey her when Kouga was there, no matter how insulting the ookami was, or how threatening, or how annoying. "Damn her!"

His ears twitched, an uncontrolled reaction, an instinct, but one long honed and well obeyed and he barely managed to dodge the strike as it came, a thick, tangled mass of vines impaling the ground where he had just sat, sending rocks and dust and whatever deposits of driftwood happened to be there. In an instant, before he even landed, he had drawn his sword and sliced down, using his falling weight, chopping into the thorny mass.

There was this shrill, whistling screech of pain, like wind being pushed through the fissures of a gorge. The vine shuddered and pulled back into the bushes, a retreat, folding in on itself like a coiled injured snake, writhing in its agony. Inuyasha had to fold back his ears against the noise. It wasn't painful enough to hurt him, not horribly at least, but he wasn't in any hurry to chase after the disappearing plant and get any closer to the source of the sound.

It was probably just a youkai hunting prey anyway, no bother.

Inuyasha waited until the fading screech finally died, then, sheathing his sword he turned back to continue glaring hatefully into the water. At least some of his anger had been relieved during the short, but adrenaline inducing fight.

-

Kouga trudged through the forest with the slowest, heaviest steps he could manage. He knew he was acting like a chastised pup, but why the hell did HE have to go find the mutt? Just because some argument they had ended with him face first in the ground and Kagome stomping off to places unknown, yet again. Of course, the very imposing taijiya may have helped to influence his current predicament, but only slightly. After all, he was not scared of some woman, a human woman at that. He wasn't.

With a sigh he tested the air, sure from the scent trail that Inuyasha was up ahead somewhere, and from the sound of it there was a creak. Maybe he could sneak up on the mutt and kick him into it. Yeah, that would make him happy, at least a little bit; though it probably wouldn't do a thing for Inuyasha's attitude other than ignite it, again.

He had one hell of a short temper.He could smell the dog just beyond the bushes and with him another, more putrid stench, if that was at all possible. Putting on a burst of speed to his trudging he broke from the trees and onto the bank in time to see Inuyasha strike down on a mass of thorny vines protruding from the forest and dangling out onto the sand.

Kouga stood, arms crossed and watched as the obviously weak youkai retreated into the woods with a shriek of rage and pain. Inuyasha sheathed his sword, not bothering or maybe not caring to check his surroundings to see what else lurked. Kouga smirked.

Cocky bastard.

He was about to walk over and follow through with his previous idea of knocking him into the water, cool off some of that hot headed arrogance, when he noticed something near the edge again, where a little sprout of a vine had started to slither back out timidly. Close to the ground, and moving with a quickening pace.

Kouga saw as it lifted up off the ground, pulsing, growing, thickening, knotting into a fibrous vine, shaggy with thorns and sliver-like bark it reared back like a snake ready to strike and the mutt hadn't noticed yet. Everything went by with a creeping slowness, but he realized as he shot forward, that it was all happening too quickly, and his mind was just stuck in slow motion. Shock, perhaps, of what he knew would happen, but he couldn't make his feet go faster.

The vine penetrated the middle of Inuyasha's back with a sickening ease, a horribly painful, but not altogether deadly blow to the hanyou, but the creeper didn't go straight through. In fact, it looked to be pushing into him, reaching inside.

It raised the body up even as Inuyasha swore and ripped into his own abdomen with his claws to sever the cord. Kouga stopped short as he watched that grisly scene, Inuyasha's own hand in his gut. At first it just looked like he was reaching into his haori, then the dark stain started to spread, darker, blacker. The metallic scent of blood hit Kouga in the face and his eyes watered by the sudden assault.

Blood pulsed from the chasm and despite Inuyasha's thrashing and digging the deadly vine pushed itself deeper within him.

Suddenly there was a loud crack, muffled slightly by squelching sounds of tissue being squeezed and torn. Inuyasha's body arched back in pain and his cry pierced Kouga's eardrums. Flecks of yellow foam spewed forth from his mouth and splattered on Kouga's cheek.

His head snapping to the side as if the stuff had stung he was pulled out of his trance and fell upon him, clutching his stiff limbs and scrambling for purchase on the ground. With grim determination he began to hack at the snare, trying to pry it from Inuyasha's entrails. Pieces of flesh and viscera spattered him as he dug and slashed at the vine. The vine fought back its tendrils flexing and joining together to form a claw; it sliced at him savagely. Vines lashed out like whipcords, lacerating Kouga's face with spiny barbs, and hundreds of small tendrils wrapped around his wrists, striking like serpents trying to pierce his skin. Kouga fought on, trying to ignore the assault. And though he had secured Inuyasha's body, the vine appeared stronger, yanking him forward in spasmodic motions, pulling him instantly toward the trees.Branches swept across Kouga, slapping him in the face, cutting his legs and arms, but he would not let go.

With a burst of strength be dug his heals in, feeling a jolt as he latched onto an exposed root, stopping the vine dead and enticing a shuddering cry from Inuyasha, his mouth open, his body slowly going limp, his struggling halting.

Inuyasha's skin started to take on a grayish pallor and Kouga felt his feet slip on the forest floor, wet and slick from his blood.

With a desperate cry of rage Kouga plunged his own fist into Inuyasha's stomach and gripped at the thorny mass entangling itself with the hanyou's spine, wrenching in out his front, sending splatters of crimson blood to land with the rest on the ground. When he felt the wriggling tentacles in his hand try and jolt back he released it, watching as it slipped back into Inuyasha's body in an instant and out the other end, hitting his spine and snapping it completely in two before it hit the dirt floor.

The tiny thread-like tendrils started snapping, their grasp on the bleeding hanyou not so strong without the larger vine and with a high pitched shriek of rage from the creature the two finally fell limply to the ground as it disappeared under the brush, Kouga's knees buckling under him.

Kouga stared down at Inuyasha, his breathing heavy and irregular. He had to get Inuyasha someplace safe, someplace his could heal. Precious life fluid was leaking from the veins injured around his spine Kouga could only hope they weren't severed completely and that they would heal quickly. If not, the mutt would be dead within minutes, and there was nothing he could do to save him. Gritting his teeth he gingerly picked the dog up, stumbling to his feet under the weight he turned around in a full circle, trying to get his bearings.

Blood coated whatever scent trail he left while traveling from the human's camp, he would have to make his way back to the mountainous crags in the center of the forest, a day's travel for a human, but for him, he could reach his companions in half an hour.

"Hold on," he muttered, "don't you dare die on me, I won't let you lay that kind of guilt on my shoulders you worthless Mutt." He didn't think he could bare the blame in Kagome's eyes.

-

The wild yellow grass they had collected from a nearby clearing was soft, warm because the wolves had been sleeping there earlier and the body heat lingered, and smelled richly of the forest, perfect for the hanyou, with a nearly inaudible grunt of discomfort Kouga set Inuyasha down of the soft grass bedding and turned to bark orders at his companions.

"Water, get be some bandages, and go gather some herbs! Now! Get a move on, he's bleeding to death you nitwits!" He yelled and the two rushed about to oblige him.

Kouga stood over Inuyasha, gently undoing his haori and yukuta to get a better look at he potentially fatal wound.

"Shit, this looks really bad," he swore. Though he could no longer smell the oozing of spinal fluids and the bleeding had started to stop, why the hell the mutt had so much blood he couldn't figure, but by the grayish tint of his skin he knew even the hanyou's limits were being pushed.

Grabbing the wooden bowl from Ginta when it was handed to him, a bit of the water sloshing out to dampen the trying fringes of some grass stalks, he poured the entire thing into the gaping hole in Inuyasha's abdomen and watched as the red was rinsed away to expose vulnerable organs and the lightest glint of vertebrae.

"You." He turned toward Hakaku, who was callously shredding some expensive women's human cloths they had lifted off a village as a gift for Kagome. It was all worthless now, she wouldn't have had an interest in the kimonos anyway, and they hadn't paid for it or anything. "Go get some herbs damn it! Ones for something like this!" He pointed to the hole, blood dribbling down Inuyasha's bare skin. "You helps that old healer woman before, you should know."

Hakaku left the shredded clothing, dashing out of the shallow cavern to go get the precious plants that could help the hanyou.

-

There was a persistent pain running through his body, pulsing like an unfamiliar heartbeat. The stench of ground plants, stale blood, and drying grass assaulted his nose and he gagged, choking on the warm liquid being dribbled between his cracked lips.

The hard wood of the bowl pressed to his mouth twitched, then receded. "Are you awake?" The words were formed in his ears, muffled by a loud roar somewhere inside his head. He tried to shake his head, but that just made the pounding more insistent, the pain more piercing. Gentle hands smoothed away his bangs from his forehead, stilling his thrashing. They were cold, icy, but then maybe he was feverish. He felt so hot, more than any flame he'd ever been engulfed in because this heat came from his own body.

He felt a whimper slip past his lips against his will, and welcomed the clawing blackness pulling him back into the empty void of his mind.

-

"Kouga, we couldn't find them!" Ginta and Hakaku shouted in unison as they came jogging into the cave, only to be met with a flying wooden bowl full of blood and boiled watery boar fat hitting Ginta right between the foreheads, splattering the sludge over the two.

"Quiet you two! Do you want to agitate him?!" Kouga yelled at them.

"You're shouting." Hakaku mumbled and Kouga sat back down beside Inuyasha with a huff, his back facing them.

After a moment he addressed the two cleaning themselves off. "Kagome, she wasn't there?" He asked softly.

"No one was." Ginta said. "The camp was all cleaned up, though a rapped meal was left in the tree Inuyasha was sleeping in." Hakaku put the neatly wrapped box down beside Kouga, backing up cautiously when the wolf didn't turn around to look at them, or answer. "they probably went back to that village, the one Kagome lives at."

"They left him?" Kouga wondered out loud.

"Well, he does go off on his own a lot, so it's probably normal for them to head back and let him catch up." Ginta explained with a smile. "and you said yourself Kagome was mad."

Kouga nodded, she had been pretty pissed. After a second of thought he gave another firm nod and stood to face them. "Then the mutt will stay with me for however long is needed." The two let their shoulders fall, tension abating, relieved that Kouga wasn't going to abandon Inuyasha after all the times he had helped and saved them. Patting his hands together as if dusting them off he fixed them with a stern glare, "You will go to this village of Kagome's and tell them what happened."

"But, but we have no idea where that is!"

"And their scent trail ends when the Kirara took to the air!"

"So go in the direction they were headed before the trail ends and if you don't find them by the time you reach the beach choose a direction and go from there."

"But, but that could take weeks!"

"Then choose the direction carefully, and hope you find someone who spotted a large yellow flying cat." Kouga ground out. "look, none of us have any experience in treating wounds except our own on the battle field, and he needs someone who knows what their doing. Now go and get Kagome and bring her here before he dies!" Seeing their stricken faces, glancing concerned, frightened, at Inuyasha's motionless form, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to be stuck with this mutt, especially alone for what could be weeks he may not even live that long, but he had to get Kagome her to help him. "You will leave first thing in the morning." He said, and sat back down near the dog.

"But, the scent will be cold by then and—"

"Would you like to leave now?" he snapped, interrupting the complaint.

"No." they said in unison, straihtening up.

"Good, then go hunt."

-

When Inuyasha was released from the grip of his heavy dreamless sleep again, soft whispers where the first thing he heard. He listened intently, someone is sitting close to me.' A familiar scent assaulted his nose and water eased through his lips to cool the fiery thirst that was consuming him. He opened his eyes to see a blurry image of Kouga sitting over him, his head turned away, averting his eyes."Where am I?" Inuyasha asked. He was lying on a dried pile of grass, some a faded green some light brown, with several wolves around him but not the other two youkai, Ginta and Hakaku.

Kouga glanced over to him. "A small cave not far from the river; I brought you here after the fight. We had set up camp for the night but now we've had to stay for a few more days because of you." Kouga sniffed, sounding as irritated as he could force.

"Where is Kagome?"

Kouga still didn't meet his searching gaze, Kagome had left him, not even worrying about what might have happened without the others with him, this close to his time. "She went home," was all he said.

"Heh, I see." Inuyasha turned away, cringing from the pain, not only from his wounds, but from the feeling of abandonment. After protecting her so many times, after Kagome had worried about him so much, it may have seemed that they were in love. But Kouga knew from looking at him that she had left him like this far too many times then she should have.

"Can you sit up?" He asked. Inuyasha gave him a quizzical look but complied. It hurt, but he wasn't going to let Kouga know.

Rough fingers combed through the thick mane of silky silver hair, helping to lift his head a bit as he pressed the bowl of blood to his lips. Inuyasha hungrily drank it all, feeling the warm liquid dribble down his chin messily as he gulped. Kouga didn't curl his lips in disgust or pull away in revulsion, he had seen his own pack members act far worse. When the bowl was emptied Inuyasha lay back down, Kouga settling his head gently against the grass, breathing heavy from the exertion.

"You don't have to do this." Inuyasha said, trying to keep his voice from cracking, he failed.

"Do what?" Kouga asked, noting the soft, low tone Inuyasha used, the vulnerability in his voice.

"Help me…" Inuyasha sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and turned to face Kouga, wincing at the jolt of pain the action obviously caused, "you don't have to…"

"I want to." Kouga answered, a little bewildered as to why he said it so easily, knowing it was a lie. "Besides, Kagome will thank me for helping you," he said smiling, much more believable.

Inuyasha's next words shocked him. His eyes were drooping down, slowly slipping back into the darkness, hiding the pain that was perceptible in his voice. Kouga had to lean down to hear him, nose in Inuyasha's hair he inhaled the clear sent that told him Inuyasha was close to his vulnerable time. "Sometimes I don't think she really cares…" Kouga stared curiously at him, hazily aware of their close, almost intimate, propinquity of each other. Inuyasha's voice was so faint, "She's always running…always leaving me."

Inuyasha's expression was so foreign to Kouga…for a moment he thought he saw tears, but Inuyasha quickly blinked them back. 'He's so sad' Kouga thought as he watched Inuyasha stare into oblivion, maybe into his tragic past, maybe into his hopeless future. He really didn't want to know what had or may happen to him, only that he had never seen Inuyasha like this, looking so… vulnerable.

Inuyasha lost the fight of trying to keep his eyes open, sleep sounded so nice and the grass, though a bit dry and prickly, was so soft and warm beneath him. Letting out a relaxed sigh he let himself be swept away with a trust that would have shocked him, if he had noticed, but he didn't. He was safely tucked away in his empty dreams, content to be watched by someone capable of defending himself as well as a friend.

Wide-eyed Kouga watched Inuyasha go limp yet again, eyes closed and not opening, "Hey?" he asked softly, reaching out he could feel the heat emanating from Inuyasha's body even before he touched his face. He could feel Inuyasha's breathing deepen and slow. It was a strange feeling, the warm breath rhythmically flowing over his fingers; it sent a tingle through Kouga's body. His stomach quivered and he pulled back, startled by his own reaction.

-

Inuyasha awoke again before dawn. It was an odd sort of waking for him; slow and lazy, rather than quick and alert. A feeling of calm, of rightness, was inside him as deep as his heartbeat. He felt the warmth of a body laying close beside him and the feel of fur delicately placed over him. Rubbing his eyes he looked around bewildered. He never woke up under fur before.'Where am I?' he wondered. His ears pricked up to hear shifting, felt movement as the weight that was by him moved and soon he felt Kouga's gentle hand smooth the bangs away from his eyes.

"You still have a fever." Kouga said, his voice slurred by sleep.

"Kouga…" Inuyasha whispered the name as he felt darkness taking him again. 'Kagome left me…' he thought. 'Kagome left me for her time again…Kouga was the one…he took care of me.'

Kouga watched bleary-eyed as Inuyasha fell back into the deep sleep he had succumbed to hours before, days before. Settling down beside him again Kouga stared at the stone ceiling to the cavern they rested in. Faint red light from the dying embers of the fire cast shadows onto the smooth surface, he watched silently as the distorted figures danced their performance that had put him to sleep not too long ago. Again their hypnotizing movements lulled him into the subconscious world of dreams and visions.

* * *

Inuyasha wakes up fully, that's the second time, a day or so after Ginta and Hakaku leave to find Kagome. That's why they weren't there. Simple.

The slowly being revised version of Rivals in Love.

I'm getting by Inuyasha crap up here, my god does that mean I'm returning to it?! Yes, yes it does.

i figure a whole year away from my doggy boys was enough torture for me and by readers. Now were back, and there is just so much bloody stuffs i can't make Danny ad Dash do that Inuyasha and Kouga can survive no problem.

Until next time,

-Rin


	2. Chapter 2

_**Major warning: Non Consensual scene in the final portion of this chapter. Do not read past Kouga pacing in the cave (snarling at the night) if you do not like it. **_

_**Not my fault if you don't listen.** _

* * *

There was no darkness around him, no out of body weightlessness that people associated with dreams. There wasn't even a blurry haze of mist around the edges of his vision, leaving his mind fuzzed and unable to relay information to him, valuable information that told him it was all indeed a dream. 

Which itself was odd, but at least he knew that what he was experiencing was, in fact, wishful thinking.

The image of Kagome was sobbing at his side, her arms rapped protectively around her, and he, as usual, was left pained an unable to move. It was a good thing her scent was nowhere in his nose, that her tears held no trace of salt, that her waves of sorrow and regret didn't assault his senses. Because this was such a common sight, such a repeated occurrence in his life, that he would have believed it to be true, even though it was almost an exact replica of some other battle. They all looked the same to him. Melding together in his mind spotted with dried blood and stinging pain.

Kagome leaned over him, tears of fear and frustration, anger and guilt, whatever current mood she was dangling precariously in before swinging to another. She was incredibly unpredictable in that she didn't quite know how to react to his endangering himself for her sake. "Inuyasha?" He heard her ask, and as always he couldn't move, couldn't speak…couldn't do anything but look up through slits between his eyelids, his vision obscured by the out of focus blur of his eyelashes. "Inu….yasha…" Her face was getting closer…slowly descending upon him…and he didn't have the strength to push her away…didn't want to push her away…

It was the same dream as always, wishful thinking. And he knew, before he even felt himself being pulled back from her and her soft lips, sucked back into the outer workings of his mind, that he would never feel her kiss. It was as it always was, nothing but a dream.

But this time. The pain of injuries felt just a little more real.Mutterings again. Someone calling to him, but he could barely find the strength to slit his eyes again. He was pulled completely from the dream, called to the world where the pain shattered the wall his subconscious had built and stole away his breath. His eyes opened to see Kouga, leaning over him as Kagome had just been. "Where am I?' Inuyasha asked, voice hoarse, and not the least bit demanding, part from curiosity, part from exhaustion."You're awake." Kouga sighed. "Good."

Inuyasha felt a flash of irritance slide across his brain like slime. "Of course I am. You were trying to wake me weren't you?" he snapped in a whisper, swallowing a coughing fit that immediately made itself know when the last word was bitten off.

Kouga felt his own eyes narrow to slits, dangerous blue slivers peaking down at Inuyasha in rage. "You were tossing and moaning and I couldn't keep you still to wrap your wounds." _I was worried._ He didn't say the last part; some kind of prideful indignation clogged his throat as soon as the thought touched down on the back of his tongue. He was _**not**_ worried about the mutt.

"Where the hell am I?" Inuyasha repeated the question, eyes darting around the stone ceiling.

"I already told you, I brought you too this cave after the fight." Kouga wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell of dog now vastly stronger with Inuyasha being wholly conscious, yet the past few days left the mutt smelling …a little less dirty…a little like himself actually. Kouga knew it was the purity of the full moon that cleansed his scent and made him sponge up those of his surroundings.

"What fight?" Inuyasha asked, shattering Kouga's musings and reminding him that this wasn't some wounded pup, it was the mutt, his rival, the person his Kagome lov—" He shook that thought from his head the moment it entered. She was his woman, and no one, especially not this dog, was going to take her away.

"The one by the river, the vines pierced you straight through; did you even realize it was right behind you?" That was a lie; it was off in the forest, its scent so very faint, you would only smell it if the vines were dangerously close…but the mutt didn't need to know that.

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Inuyasha responded to the jab, sitting up fully and attempting to stand.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Kouga hissed, his hands going automatically to Inuyasha's shoulders pushing him back down. "You are in no condition to be scrambling around like that."

"Let go, get the hell off me." Inuyasha snapped at the air, Kouga being very sure to keep body parts out of his fang's reach. "I can get up if I want to, I'm no damned invalid."

"At this point in time, you are, and unless you want to stay that way permanently you will stay put in this bed." Kouga brandished a fist. "I have no problem with breaking your legs in favor of healing your spine."

Inuyasha looked ready to challenge him, but the pain in his torso was quickly siphoning what little will he had to get up in the first place."Whatever." He growled and slumped back down against the grass, head turned away from Kouga to glare towards the front of the cave.

It was raining outside.

The thundering sound of pounding rain, gallons of water falling just outside that small hole. The night scene was dark, and he wished he could get up and run out there, letting it all wash over him and rinse away this feeling of uselessness…he would rather the freezing rain than spend anymore time with it and Kouga both. His cheek twitched, the cold wind changing direction an instant, sending a spray of rain down into the entrance, a light mist maintaining life enough to cool the air within. Shivering he brought his arms around himself, realizing his yukuta and haori were both missing.

And his toes were cold.The ludicrous thought made him want to laugh; he never before had any problem with his bare feet, even in the snow. The situation was undoubtedly messing with his mind. He felt dizzy, his surroundings becoming a blur, the dark crudely drawn circle that was the mouth of the cave distorting until it really did look like a mouth, sneering down at him. The fucking mountain was laughing at him. The mountain!

Damn rocks. Trees were far more respectful. He wanted to go lounge in a tree.

Yup. His mind was in fucked up mode. Wheee.

He looked around, for anything that would focus, but the only thing close to him was the wolf. Even the cave walls were too far away and had melted into the surrounding colors. The wolf just kneeled there, gazing down at him, his arms extended forward, pinning him down, looking contemplative, his turquoise eyes becoming a deeper, darker blue, what he could see of them that is. Kouga's eyes were still narrowed.

A second wave of nausea hit him and he seriously feared of retching right into the wolfs face and, because gravity was just a bastard, himself as well, and no amount of pain would ever cause him that humiliation.The wound in his torso throbbed as if to challenge that declaration, each pulsate sending a new wave of pain throughout his body. His vision darkened, and he watched as the pensive look on Kouga's face turned to that of raw concern…like the ones his friends wore whenever he was in pain.

Was Kouga really worried for him?

He didn't have time to dismiss the thought, the darkness descended upon him, crushing him under its weight. His face fell slack and his shoulders released their tension long before the world around him zoomed away again.

This time, he was glad to return to the darkness.As soon as Inuyasha's golden eyes clouded over with a mist, never blinking, Kouga knew he was lost again. He leaned back, sure that it was no longer necessary to pin the brute down; now straddling him, an assessing glare locked onto the slack face in case something unexpected should happen. What unexpected thing he didn't know, but that's why they call them 'unexpected'. Slowly, after a few minutes into the staring contest with someone who wasn't even conscious, he leaned forward and closed them with his fingers, eyelids falling shut like a curtain over those deadened eyes.

Picking himself up off the limp body he shifted his staring out to the rain, flowing down like a curtain over the forests that climbed up the side of the mountain. The distance was a gray blur, green leaves and branches molded together in the darkness.

Quietly he wondered just what the purpose was to waking Inuyasha up in the first place if he was just going to pass out again.

-

A voice, deep and gruff, like a husky whisper…he knew that voice; it soothed him, and sent a jolt of fear through his being. He struggled through the fog that dragged him under. The voice slurred, the incomprehensible words running together. He fought against the oblivion, the darkness that surrounded him, the swirling colors of his mind, and the lulling voice of someone very close….and very dangerous.

Orange and gold light flickered past his sleeping face; he dragged his eyes open against the weight of their lids. The light was warm and dim, shadows danced at the ends of his vision in the ethereal light. A long thick shadow rose in front of the glow, more solid and real than the performers who clung to the darkness of his sight. He let out a startled cry, more a squeak of fear, and tried to back away, but his body wouldn't move.

"Its ok," a hand moved out to sooth across his forehead. It wasn't Kagome's, neither was it Kaede's or Miroku's, as such it was not welcome to touch him. You're safe here." He wanted to shake his head, but it hurt too much to move. He wasn't safe, not here. Something told him to run away. The voice, so soft and caring, was not one to be trusted.

The fog around his mind cleared than, he could think clearly and in a startling instant new exactly who was with him. The wolf sat, hovering over him, his eyes watchful. Inuyasha tried to sit up, but every limb was too heavy to move. Kouga watched him for a moment more before turning back to the fireplace, grabbing a piece of meat from its heat. He took a bite, sharp canines ripping through the tough flesh easily, He plucked the strip he had tore away from his teeth and put it up to Inuyasha's mouth."Eat." he said firmly. Inuyasha turned his head away from the strip. Kouga sighed, having expected the refusal. "Look, your wounds are healed mutt, but it's been almost five days and you've eaten nothing. You'll never regain your strength that way, not with the new moon tonight." Kouga added that last part knowing it would jar Inuyasha from his delusions of superiority for a moment. "Now eat." Kouga ordered; his tone firm and commanding, a tone he was well accustomed to using.

Inuyasha pressed his lips tightly together, the pinkish tint turning as white as the knuckles that clutched the straw beneath him. Stifling an outraged cry Kouga shoved the strip into his own mouth and bit into the flesh once more. Fascinated by the fact that he would give up so easily Inuyasha watched Kouga's jaw work, the muscles moving beneath the skin as he chewed slowly, the instant he relaxed though Kouga sprung, pressing him down into the straw. Lips covering lips.

He let out a gasp and Kouga pushed the chewed meat into his mouth. He raised his arms, struggling to push the wolf away, his weak shoves doing nothing against the strength of his assailant and he was forced to swallow the disgusting mouthful of grinded flesh.

Kouga retreated only when he was sure Inuyasha had consumed it all, leaving the mutt flushed, gasping for breath, clutching the dried, breaking straw hard in his claws.

"What the hell did you thin—?"

"Do you think you can eat on your own now?" Kouga cut the dog off coldly, facing the fire, his back to the hanyou, he ran his tongue across his teeth, spitting into the fire. The taste was still there. He bit deep into the flesh again, chewing deliberately slow as he turned to face Inuyasha.

Growling in irritation and disgust Inuyasha pushed himself onto his knees, then standing slowly, feeling his legs wobble weekly beneath him. Kouga watched, sure that he would struggle to the fire, but as soon as his legs could support him comfortably he bolted, barreling passed the wolf that had so humiliated him, escaping the cave, completely mortified.

Kouga sat, eyes widened for only a moment, before he launched himself outside behind the dog. Even with Inuyasha's head start he was fast enough to catch the weakened hanyou, but quickly realized the rain washed his scent. He spared a glance at the hastily disappearing sun barely discernable but for the slightly lighter tint of the clouds, knowing that Inuyasha would change soon, just as the sky changed colors around the horizon.

He prayed he could be lucky to catch him before the change.

Kouga nearly flew across the trees, hurdling branches and shrubs. He stopped only to lift his head and scent the wind. He moved stealthily through the forest, knowing from the prints in the mud that he was on the right track. He leapt over the same fallen logs, splashed through the same puddles. He padded softly through the trees; the wind changed direction a moment and tossed an unbroken wisp of Inuyasha's scent to him, he was gaining on the dog. The forest grew silent a moment as the shadows lengthened, than burst back with life as dusk fell and the nocturnal creatures came out of hiding. A small serpent demon passed, hissing up at the wolf who nearly stepped on him.

Kouga felt the dog's presence before he came upon the hanyou. Inuyasha lay in a cradle of branches, the tree clinging desperately to the cliff's edge with strong tangled roots. He sat, silently staring out at the rushing water below, his eyes gleaming gold, his ears upright, alert, his body tense as he watched the shadows swallow up the rushing water below him, the final edges of the sun behind the storm clouds disappearing beneath the mountains.

"Inuyasha…" Kouga called silently up to him, but Inuyasha just watched the sky, the brightness of the clouds slowly fading to dark purple, than darker blue, than the oncoming storm clouds swallowed up the last bit of light. Kouga felt his night vision change to accommodate the loss of light. Waves of colored heat expanded his sight, bands of red and yellow and blue. It hit him just how reliant he was on this sudden change; he wouldn't be able to stand loosing this sight, his ability to smell or defend himself. He would die for sure, and he felt a wave of awe flow through him as he realized that Inuyasha had survived many nights defenseless, with so many powerful enemies out to kill him.

The wolf jumped up into the tree with an ease that disgusted Inuyasha, why must his rival insist on being so near on his most vulnerable night?

Kouga reached out, grasping Inuyasha by the elbow, but he jerked back.

"I don't _deserve_ anyone's goddamned pity," he rasped, "least of all yours."

Kouga wrapped an arm around his waist tightly enough that he would have to fight to break free. His chin was held capture in the other hand, bringing his gaze to the wolf's face. If there even a hint of mockery, of censure or condescension he could have pushed way, running once again from the wolf, and known he wouldn't have been followed, but there was only worry, and sadness, and he found he had no defenses against that. Only Kagome had ever been able to rob him of his fortress walls with that caring gaze, now one of his fiercest rivals could do the same.

"What _do_ you_ deserve_ Inuyasha? If not pity?" Kouga asked.

"I have nothing that needs to be pitied." Inuyasha whispered, "I have survived haven't I?" The words ripped from his heart, words he believed true. "I survived." He continued in a whisper.

"Okay then mutt. What about sympathy?" He jerked Inuyasha's chin a little when those gold eyes fled to the corners. "What about remorse?"

"Who would sympathize with me?" Inuyasha bit. "I don't deserve that either."

"Says who?" Kouga asked tensely."You for one." It hit Kouga's ears hard and he blinked.

Inuyasha felt his senses dull then, his hearing smothered by the roar of the rain that fell down across the world like tears from the sky, the darkness of the night pressing in on him like a shroud of shadows passing before his eyes. He felt the painful ache in his chest caused by the sprint from the cave, the freezing rain that drenched him. Scents escaped him, he almost wept for the loss of information. For the ability to identify the individual flowers, foods, even the creatures around him. He was vulnerable once more, for one more night he would have to live alone and unprotected, not even his demon blood would emerge to save him on this night, lying dormant in his veins for a full ten hours.

Kouga watched in horrified fascination as the triangular ears shrunk down, hair seeping back into pale skin, flicking slightly as they tried futilely to capture the last bit of sounds before they were immobile on the side of the humans head, the wispy hair, silky but carelessly tousled, changed from bright silver to midnight in a few moments, like ink being poured over metal. Inuyasha opened his eyes hesitantly, staring at the awestruck wolf with deep, violet pools.

Kouga tried to gather the shaken human in his arms but Inuyasha jerked back, returning to his usual state after the change. "I don't need your help." He snapped as he slid down the trunk of the tree, but as soon as his feet touched the ground and he tried to walk his legs gave out from under him, and with a sharp cry he fell on his hands and knees in the mud. Kouga caught him by the arm, kneeling down to help. "Don't touch me!"He swung at him, clawless hands brushing weakly against his cheek in what would have been a marring strike. The tree's roots began to crack, the noise catching Kouga's attention as he grasped the struggling human by the wrists. The rain was coming down hard, beating down on them, soaking them and the ground. Inuyasha sagged, breathing heavily. He didn't have the strength or energy to take the wolf on, and the irritating weight of his wetness grew too heavy for him, adding to his exhaustion.

Koga pulled the boy's limp body into his arms, away from the sliding tree that they had been in moments before. If he hadn't followed, would Inuyasha still be in the tree? Tumbling down into the darkness to the muddy river below? He didn't doubt it.Inuyasha hung limply from his arms as he lifted him up, he had no choice but to sling him like a sack over his shoulder. The human was about his height, and difficult to carry through the forest despite his shocking weight loss.

Slipping, his bare feet found little purchase in the mud making every step a sliding lurch. He struggled up the mountainside to the warm cave; twice he slid, landing heavily on his knees, almost pitching forward in the mud. It seamed like an eternity before they reached the cave, the icy rain pounding down onto them.

-

Kouga paced the cave, the rain still poured down in a steady rhythm. He was brash and hard headed, yes, but he didn't get to the top of his tribe, didn't unite his brethren under his rule for simply rushing into battle. He was calculated, unlike Inuyasha he knew how to strategize. And that was what he was doing.

Because now that Inuyasha was human any youkai could attack and there would be only him. He was confident he could handle himself, but Inuyasha was an inactive target, and could easily be taken if not guarded properly.

When he had first reentered the cave he set to work drying and taking care of the hanyou turned human, removing the soaked hakama, and wrapping him in the undamaged haori, whose unscathed-ness puzzled him but he couldn't let his mind wander. He washed his own cloths while the human slept, ridding himself of the mud and letting the fur dry near the fire. Now he paced, barely clothed, ready to face whatever disaster might happen, that most likely would happen…that most likely ALWAYS happened during this night; both cursing and thanking the heavens for the rain that rid the land of their trail, but would cause others to look for shelter.

His feet hurt, his body was tired and sore, and he wanted to kill something damn it! He turned to the entrance of the cave, baring his fangs at the night, daring something to enter, lightning flashed, and for a moment after he was actually fearful something would. He turned to Inuyasha, looming over him, brooding, watching him, blaming him, fury riding him hard.

Why was he the one saddled with this responsibility? Why did the human woman have to send him after the dog. Why did they have to leave him behind, and why hadn't Ginta and Hakaku found them all yet? It had been five days since the attack; they were all lucky Inuyasha hadn't broken his spine completely, hadn't leaked fluid and died. They were lucky his wounds didn't draw attention from more youkai, or get an infection, or simply piss Kouga off to the point where he strangled the life from him himself.

Looking at him while he slept so peacefully, so unaware of his vulnerability, he felt his rage bleed into something...else. Inuyasha's human form fascinated him, his clean scent ensnaring his senses until all Kouga could do was breathe deep, and wonder just what difference there was in that scent that made it so different from before. Because even though he was human, he smelled undoubtedly like Inuyasha.

Inuyasha who lay asleep on the pile of straw, only his haori covering him, leaving his fevered body open to the cool night air. His wet hair spilled on the grass in whorls and spirals letting trickles of water refresh the dead plant husks, one hand flung across the indentation the wolf had made during the nights Kouga slept beside him, wanting to be awake at the first sign of movement. He looked younger in his sleep, long lashes forming two crescents against his skin hiding the dark hollowness of his eyes. His flesh was lighter than before. Almost translucent, and so easily bruised, tinged with a horrible raw pinkness at the tips and corners of his body where the bones pressed hard against it.

He moved closer, never taking his burning gaze away from the boy. A tempting invitation.

Inuyasha shifted restlessly, as if he instinctively knew he was being stalked. He opened his eyes and saw the wolf's face, dark with intent…with dangerous desire. The look set his heart pounding, made his mouth go dry. Kouga's piercing blue eyes roamed over him, red flames sparking to life beneath his skin wherever the powerful gaze landed. Inuyasha saw red glow behind the gaze, burning embers in the very corneas of the eyes.

His body was battered and worn; exhausted from healing and his willful battle against Kouga's domineering nursing. He lay open to him, soft and warm and defenseless, an offering to appease the terrible anger burning within him. A tied and gagged sacrifice, restrained by his own human weakness.

Kouga was already hard as rock, but as the scent of fear spiked through the haze of his mind he thickened and hardened more. Taking steps was painful with his body so full and tight, there was a roaring in his head, drowning out all other thoughts but relief. Drowning out, even the slight whispered plea of his name, Inuyasha's fractured attempt at bringing him to his sanity.

He wasn't attracted to the human, and he didn't feel gentle or lover-like as he did when Kagome was near, he felt wild and inflamed, his body's urgent demands engulfing him. He could have argued with himself, that it was his demon blood screaming for dominance over his rival in any way possible, that the dog was human now, and weak, injured, tired. It wasn't right! But intellect had fled him, leaving only his burning fury and need, with Inuyasha lying half naked, cloaked in his scent, open and waiting. He struck swiftly, his fingers circling the weakened human's neck, his strength was enormous compared to the injured human and the grip he had nearly crushed his windpipe as he pressed him down, their mouths melding together, one hand at the back of his head holding him still for the kiss. Not a kiss, a fierce possession. A throaty growl sending a shiver down Inuyasha's spine as he was dragged closer, crushed to a chest almost as hard as what was currently pressing into his thigh.

Breath slammed out of Inuyasha's lunges and into Kouga's, the kiss was hungry, savage, devouring him, taking rather than asking, as if the wolf's hunger knew no bounds. Kouga's arms locked around him, so tight he felt every beat of the wolf's heart, every breath he took. He tasted lust, he tasted desire, he tasted the fierce pride and rage that consumed the wolf, urging the man to subdue his rival. He felt it all, tasted it in every thrust of the tongue. Perspiration from his fever tripled, droplets rolling down his face. Inuyasha new what was happening, even if the wolf didn't, and it scared the shit out of him. He choked as Kouga delved into his mouth once more; giving him no chance to breath, to do anything but accept what was being forced on him. He could bite down, but then what? He feared what the wolf was capable of in this state of mind.

He couldn't get any air into his lunges, his mind not registering the grand talent of breathing through his nose, fear, terrible irrational fear swirling around where his brain used to be like a dark typhoon. Saliva was building up in his mouth and he began to gag on his own tongue, pressed to the back of his throat, cowering in the corner of his mouth from wolf's invading appendage.

He willed himself to go limp, forcing his mind somewhere else other than the cave, hoping with all that was in him that his lack of oxygen would make him pass out, would spare his from this reality. And just as the shadow performers danced around his vision Kouga pulled back, and he gasped in a large gulp of breath, choking on the liquid dribbling down his throat, coughs shaking his body. Kouga, however, was impervious to this as he quickly attacked the rest on Inuyasha's face. Sharp teeth nibbling on his lips, moving down his chin, his throat, taking small greedy bites as if to devour him alive. Inuyasha gasped through the spasms, air clogging his windpipe, unable to control his body as it instinctively trembled and shied away, his nails biting deep into his palms, waiting, aching.

Kouga smirked, his eyes glistening in the glow of the dying fire. His mouth, hot and insistent with demands, went lower still, nosing aside the fabric of his haori, trailing hot openmouthed kisses along the disciplined muscles of his rival's chest. His hands left Inuyasha's wrists in favor of the heated flesh of the torso, circling a taut nipple with his tongue. Inuyasha arched this time into the touch rather than away, screaming inside his head that he should pull back, willing himself to raise his now free hands and push the disgusting wolf off him.As if sensing Inuyasha's thoughts Kouga wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer to the moist, hot mouth. Kouga moved lower, his tongue leaving a slimy trail along the muscles of the former dog, feeling the dips in the well toned abdominal, laving at the smooth silvery-pink tissue where the gaping wound had been, eyes glittering, enjoying the emotions that were so easily read in the humans violet eyes, anger, hatred, passion, and the fear that had never left him since realizing exactly what Kouga was going to do.

He grinned, showing his sharp teeth, watching the shudder run across the humans glistening flesh. Revulsion or anticipation? He didn't know, and he didn't care. He didn't have the capacity to care, wasn't in the right mindframe to even realize he lacked the capacity to care.Inuyasha wanted to plead with Kouga, make him stop, he new he wanted this to stop, but the words wouldn't come out. He waited, hardly able to breath, his heart pounding. He laid his head back, struggling for breath, bringing his arms around himself in an attempt to regain control of himself, to regain the ability to speak, human nails digging into his own shoulders hard enough to leave bloody crescents. Kouga's growl was deep and low, a warning, grasping the human's hands, shoving them back away, pinning them to the fur on the side. His fangs grazing Inuyasha's nose as he glared right into his eyes.

He pulled back, watching for a moment, but Inuyasha didn't move again, exhausted and afraid, completely vulnerable and weak, barely able to breathe without coughing.

Somewhere inside him it was unsettling.

Kouga grinned as he cupped Inuyasha's face, the skin burning in his hands. Despite the humans obvious discomfort with the situation he had responded to the attention appropriately. He locked eyes with the man, crawling his way back down to Inuyasha's hips, intent on finishing his work, his own erection needed to be attended to, but he wanted Inuyasha to writhe beneath him, crying out, begging him. Inuyasha watched him, mouth parted, hiccoughing sounds coming from within, unable to look away from Kouga's hypnotizing gaze. The wolf knelt between his legs, dark silken hair falling over a honey colored shoulder, brushing against his thighs. Kouga kept their gazes locked, even as he took the human's manhood into his mouth, smiling with his eyes when Inuyasha took in a sharp breath that did not shatter into fragmented coughing.

Inuyasha watched his length slide in and out of Kouga's mouth, glistening wet, growing thicker and harder with each withdraw. He cried out, would have scrambled away, but Kouga held him still, without mercy, for the assault, mouth wrapped around him, a weapon of wicked pleasure, lapping and licking and stroking while he screamed and whimpered and shuddered in disgusted ecstasy. He thrust upward, exploding into the hot moist cavern of Kouga's mouth.

Kouga pulled back, wiping his mouth with the back of his fist, breaking his hold over the human, allowing Inuyasha to fall back, desperately trying to catch his breath, to catch his thoughts and his sanity. Eyes sparkling with inner laughter he lapped up the remnants of the small stream that had escaped the corner of his lips from his hand, teasing Inuyasha again with his tongue as he tried to retrieve every drop. He gazed at the man's body, hard and perfect, every muscle defined as if carved from stone. Inuyasha tried to huddle into a ball, shuddering from the ministrations, wanting to cry but unable to. He had very rarely been able to cry. His well of tears near to drying after years of torment.

Kouga pinned him back, hands grasping his shoulders as he wedged himself between his legs. Inuyasha immediately tensed, his thighs clamping tightly around the wolf's knee between them. With a snarl of irritation and impatience Kouga dug his claws into them and spread them wide, earning a shout from the human beneath him. Blood dribbled onto his fingers from the punctures, and his mind rolled in glee at the scent.

Kouga braced his body with his arms, leaning down to suckle on Inuyasha's neck; trying to keep the man from passing out before he started. Inuyasha moaned softly, half unconscious, Kouga cradled between his now limp thighs. Breath an erratic rise and fall, jittery and jerky as though clogged by a severe case of hiccups.Kouga held Inuyasha still, lifting his legs and thrusting hard, burying himself deep within the man's entrance. He tilted his hips, urging the human to take all of him, every inch, welding them together in one quick strike of fury and dark passion. Inuyasha was lucid enough to realize the burning belt of pain when it came, screaming from the ache, feeling himself explode, implode, break into a million pieces, fragments of himself falling about him as he lay beneath his rival. Completely at his mercy.

Kouga dove into him deep, and drove deeper, higher, higher, pushing them both to their limits. He clenched his teeth against the waves of sensations, against the tightness that swept through his body. His breathing was as erratic as Inuyasha's, but deeper, more hurried, and without the broken gasping ends. He could taste the scent of blood on his tongue, knew something had torn deep inside when his thrusts became easier, when a slick substance began to coat him with every entry and withdrawal.

With a low moan he wrapped his arms tightly around the human's waist, lifting him slightly into a strange, awkward embrace as he felt the shuddering sensation of his climax erupt from him. Inuyasha's head lolled back, his bruised, swollen neck made of some flimsy material not quite suitable for bearing the weight of it. His eyes were slits, seeing nothing, and his tongue barely peaked out between his parted lips. A long trail of clear fluid escaped from his watery eyes to draw a trail down his temple to disappear into the dark hair above his human ear.

Kouga didn't even notice.

* * *

That was much better than the first try of it two years ago. My god, it seems I do improve at times, even if it still isn't worth the internet space it inhabits. 

Left some parts of the original in there at the request of rather violent looking readers, but changed and deleted parts I felt I could get away with (like Inuyasha's crappy dream sequence and his first escape attempts)

Hope you enjoyed this. I hate having Inuyasha be helpless AND on the _**bottom**_ but sadly he doesn't have it in him to rape, and people feel more comfortable with him as the victim for some reason.

See you soon(hopefully)

-Rin


	3. Chapter 3

Kouga lay over Inuyasha, panting, foreheads touching, struggling to remain up on his trembling arms. Most of his vehemence had been spent and now his mind was clearing just a bit, the red clouding his vision receding to wherever it had bled from. The Inuyasha lay motionless, his breathing almost nonexistent, an itching worry scratched at the back of his mind. He let out a long sigh and collapsed, careful not to crush the frail human beneath his weight, taking his usual place beside Inuyasha.

The fire had died down, leaving only the glowing ruby coals to warm the deep cave. The wind changed direction for an instant, sending a shower of icy rain into the front of the cave. Struggling with exhaustion he pulled the warm body closer to him, a distant echo in his mind that he was to protect this man; who the human was he couldn't remember, but he was injured and needed to be cared for.

The rain was playing out a chorus of taps outside, chimes and thumps as it hit leaves, rock, and the deep hollow sound as it ended in a collection of water, each contact sending a different tune to his ears. Kouga took no notice, his eyelids suddenly too heavy for him, the distant thunder lulling him to sleep. A black veil blew over his vision, growing, thickening, until all he could see was darkness.

-

The fire had died completely, leaving the cave feeling cold and wet, as a cave should. It took only a moment for Kouga to adapt fully to the pitch-black darkness that now surrounded him.

Instantly alert and aware his sharp gaze traveled the rocky enclosure to pinpoint just what woke him. A tremor ran along his arms and he looked down to see the warm body beside him shivering in the cold. He swore, certain he should have been more careful then to let the fire die, Inuyasha was human and could not withstand the cold as he usually could.

Something was amiss however, and his mind struggled against whatever it was, then he noticed… Inuyasha was naked! His mind whirled through exactly what reason the human could have to be naked.

Human…

His mind stumbled over that word while his eyes tugged down to his own bare body.

Stifling a cry he struggled back, removing himself from the motionless form. What had he done? What the hell had happened? He covered his mouth with a hand, the night's incidents flooding his mind. He felt ill… soiled and filthy. The feeling of his rival pinned beneath him sent shivers through his body.

What the hell had come over him?!

Trembling he barely managed to stagger to the entrance of the cave before his stomach revolted and his previous meals covered the wet earth. He kneeled, knees sloping into the soiled ground, claws curling in the mud.

This wasn't real. It wasn't true. He didn't..he, he couldn't have. _And with the __**mutt**_? The universe couldn't possibly be that cruel.

He needed to get away. The images in his mind wouldn't_ leave_, the sounds of Inuyasha panting, too exhausted to fight back. Screaming. Pleading.

The cold merciless rain drenched him as he ran, pelting his body like needles. His mind raced ,his stomach clenching. He fought down the overwhelming disgust.

Tree limbs whipped by. Something crunched beneath his left foot with a short, chopped squeal of pain. It didn't make another sound, either dead already or too far back for him to hear. His speed was building. Soon the air that his legs kicked up behind him combined with the air he was slicing through, whirling around him batting the stinging rain away from his bare flesh.

A bolder loomed in front of him. He jumped. A tree sprouted from the darkness into his path, he angled and avoided it. A youkai appeared from nowhere, they were trampled. He didn't know how far he had gone or the distance he could cover or even the speed he was going, just that he ha to get gone. Leav. Disappear. Just flee and never come back and hopefully leave everything that he had just done behind him with all those obstacles.

But it didn't. The memories clung to his consciousness with sharpened talons. A misty grey specter, elusive as wind but as tangible as fog clawed at his shoulders, screeching in his ear. Accusing him, raging at him, begging and pleading with the voice of the hanyou. He turned sharply, charging to the right, hoping to elude this ghost of his actions but his feet sank deep into the mud and he pitched forward, falling down into the dark, cold slop of rainwater and forest earth. He lay there a moment, face in the mud, letting the shower from the heavens pierce him.

So degrading.

He was out here, bare, in the rain while the weakling hanyou was cozy in the cave. That pathetic little mongrel was the one at fault here, not him! He was the one who ran out and got himself injured, the one who fled the cave when he knew it was his human night, the one who couldn't guard himself properly from one fucking youkai. How the man survived all these years was beyond him!

Anger and rage building in him. He sat up, grabbing handfuls of mud and began scrubbing his flesh with the harsh slop. Nothing helped; he still felt awful, his skin tingling where it had touched his rival. He shuddered, unable to shake the memory. Pushing aside the red haori to reach warm flesh, delving into that hot mouth, that smooth pearly scar tissue so much softer than the rest of the skin especially beneath his tongue. Mortification swam through him as his groin stirred from images. Despite his disgust and loathing, the hanyou still dared to arouse him.

He shook his head.

It wasn't the mutt's fault.

It wasn't!

He had to keep reminding himself that. The rage that built within him when he blamed the weak human was what stirred his blood, screaming for him to dominate over his rival. No, it was his fault, he was the one who couldn't fight back the urges, couldn't turn a blind eye to the humans alluring vulnerability. It was his weakness.

So he sat there, wallowing in the muck, it the result of his shame. It seemed fitting right know. It was where he belonged after what he did.

-

InuYasha shivered, his body was freezing, but the heat _from _his body was overwhelming. Hot cold, hot cold. Why couldn't he decide which one. Bringing his legs to his chest he wrapped his arms around himself. The ache was a constant reminder of what had happened, what he was unable to prevent. He cursed his weak human body and his stupidity for believing for an instant that Kouga might have become a friend. An ally he could depend on so he didn't have to always be the strong one.

He shook his head; matted black hair clinging to the sweat on his face. He could depend on no one but himself. No one would ever help him, no one would protect him. There was no one he could trust… no one…

Just himself.

Just him.

* * *

Forgive the teeny update yes? This next part's rewrite is giving me lip and needs a firm hand, so I sent it to my faithful cough editors.

Don't worry, I don't abuse my writing, sometimes it just needs discipline.

So no calling any protection agencies on me mkay?


End file.
